An investigation into an assault last Friday in Council Bluffs has resulted in an arrest. Bluffs Police say 39-year old Cedric R. Whitmire, of Council Bluffs, faces charges that include 1st Degree kidnapping, Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree, Aggravated Domestic Assault, Pandering, and other, misdemeanor drug charges.Whitmire was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Cedric R. Whitmire

Authorities says on November 11th, officers with the Council Bluffs Police Department responded to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in reference to a female victim receiving treatment for both physical and sexual assaults. The victim told officers that her boyfriend, Cedric Whitmire, had taken her cell phone and refused to allow her to leave their apartment in the 800 block of North 36th Street, in Council Bluffs, for the past few days.

She also told officers that during that time, he continually assaulted her by striking her in the face with a closed fist and at one point sexually assaulted her. During the subsequent investigation, it was determined Whitmire had transported the victim into Omaha, against her will, for the purpose of engaging in prostitution.

The Audubon Police Department reports two Audubon men were arrested last week for Lascivious Acts with a child. 70-year old John Charles Donahue, and 19-year old Forrest James Debruin, were taken into custody Nov. 10th.

And, on Nov. 9th, 27-year old Cody Lee Sellman, of Coon Rapids, was arrested in Audubon for Driving While Barred, and Improper Registration.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is on the verge of becoming the oldest woman in space. A native of Beaconsfield, in Ringgold County, Whitson will be 56 when she rockets off the planet Thursday. She’ll celebrate her 57th birthday on the International Space Station.

That’s a far cry from John Glenn’s space shuttle flight at age 77 and a few years shy of the male runners-up over the years. But it’s enough to beat Barbara Morgan’s record as the world’s oldest spacewoman. Morgan waited so long to fulfill her role as Christa McAuliffe’s teacher-in-space backup that she was 55 when she finally flew in 2007.

This will be the third space station mission for Whitson, and her second stint as commander. She’ll launch from Kazakhstan with two younger men, Russian and French.

A study by the University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center finds most Iowans are taking the proper steps to protect babies in cars, while teenagers lag behind when it comes to seat belt use. Cara Hamann led the study which showed adults are following Iowa’s child safety seat law. “We are at 99 percent, so almost everyone is doing a good job on that,” Hamann says. “An in the two to five year olds…we’ve seen improvement in the amount of people using booster seats or child safety seats for those two to five year olds.”

She says the high use of car seats is likely a result of educational efforts to inform parents of the proper way to transport kids. “I would hope a lot of this could be attributed to hospitals and police departments doing those checks. And I know hospitals make sure people don’t leave hospitals (with a newborn) without the proper equipment. So, those efforts really make a difference,” according toe Hamann.

The use of the safety equipment in cars goes down as the kids get older. She says teenagers from 14 to 17 years old have the worst use of a seatbelt at 84 percent, which she says is quite a bit lower than some of the younger age groups. Hamann says many of those teens don’t have an adult with them in the car and that could be why their seatbelt use is lower. “I definitely think that could be part of it,” Hamann says. “We’ve found that the more passengers with teens….sometimes you find lower seatbelt use when there’s a group of teenagers,” Hamann says.

The U-I survey also found that people who live in Iowa’s smaller towns are less likely to use seatbelts. “We have four different categories ranging as a thousand and then as high as over 50-thousand. And we really find a trend where the smaller the community, the lower the restraint use is. Both for the children and the drivers — so even the adult seatbelt use is lower in those smaller communities,” Hamann explains.

Hamann says the lower use of seatbelts in rural communities could be because there are fewer education programs there. There could also be a feeling that there’s not as much traffic in smaller towns and less of a worry about accidents. “That could be part of it, maybe also enforcement. Maybe in urban areas there’s more visibility of law enforcement and so maybe people feel more compelled to use restraint in those areas,” Hamann says. “We are not 100 percent sure what is going on there.”

The survey found 88 percent of the people in communities with one-thousand to 25-hundred residents used the proper seatbelt of child seat in cars. That move to 93 percent in communities with 50-thousand people or more. The surveys have been conducted since 1988 and Hamann says there are some areas for improvement, but overall Iowans do a good job. “The positive thing is that we still see — even if it is small increases — some king of improvement each year. So, we are moving in the right direction,” Hamann says.

The surveys are funded by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau (GTSB) within the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

(Radio Iowa)

The Harlan Fire Department responded Tuesday afternoon,  to a motor home fire.  The fire took place at the Shelby County Fairgrounds in Harlan.  Upon arrival, firefighters found a motor home in a camping spot, on fire.  One person sleeping in the motor home was able to escape without injury, and the fire department was able to quickly extinguish the blaze with only minor damage resulting to the left rear corner of the home.

Officials say the fire was caused by faulty electrical wiring in the taillight section of the vehicle.  The Harlan Fire Department was on the scene for about 25 minutes.

(Thanks to our sister station KNOD in Harlan!)

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a man wanted for Criminal Mischief in the 2nd degree/for destruction or damage of property, turned himself-in, Tuesday morning. 25-year old Nathan Christopher Roberson, of Macedonia, was then placed under arrest and turned over to corrections staff at the Pott. County Jail.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports 39-year old Jeremy Gordon King, of Creston, was arrested Tuesday afternoon at the Union County Jail, on two Union County Warrants.  The warrants are for: Trafficking in stolen weapons 1^st offense, and assault causing bodily injury.  King was being held in the Union County Jail, with bond undetermined until he is seen by a Judge.